Sun Drawings by Janet Saad-Cook

What you're looking at is a sun drawing — an image of colored light that changes throughout the seasons, with the sun and clouds. Using a "sun drawing" instrument designed by artist Janet Saad-Cook, any room can be transformed into a seasonal art gallery…

It was in 1981 that Janet Saad-Cook became interested the artistic potential of iridescent plastic cellophane. Shortly after, one day while manipulating the material in her studio, she saw the amazing effect that resulted when the material caught sunlight and colored light was cast on the studio's walls.

This instance resulted in Saad-Cooks new artistic medium: sun drawings. Saad-Cook shapes and assembles reflective materials (typically mirrored metals and optically coated glass) and positions the reflective sun drawing instrument in a pre-selected path of direct sunlight to split, shape and reflect light onto surrounding surfaces. The optical coating breaks the light into its pure colors and as sunlight travels across the instrument, arcs of light gradually appear on the surrounding walls. This image slowly and subtly changes color and form throughout the year and can be used to tell the time and seasons.

Find out more about Saad-Cook and how the sun drawings work at her website.